PMD: Life in Flames

Epilogue – Rio

Rio was forced to quickly step back when Elisa was engulfed by the sudden blaze of fire.

At first, he was afraid that even Elisa would not be immune to such intense flames but he calmed himself, trying to keep confident that no kind of flame could harm her.

"Elisa? Elisa!" He called, hoping she could hear him. He wanted to say something to her, just one last thing. She didn't show any indication that she had heard him though and even so, he could barely see her in the middle of the fire as she was lifted off the ground. He then had to turn his head away and back off more, as the fire hit him with a wave of heat. It didn't hurt but he could barely stand it and he felt he might get burnt if he stayed too close to the inferno.

"Elisa!" He yelled one more time, trying to project his voice, but then Ho-oh let out a loud screech that was, to Rio's dread, accompanied by a scream that he recognized as Elisa's. At once, the fire shot into the sky, resembling a comet and soon vanished from view, never to be seen again.

Ho-oh was still present and flapped a couple more times, keeping herself aloft before landing and took a moment to clearly recover from her effort.

"Is… is she going to be alright?" Rio asked Ho-oh nervously, still staring up at the sky where his partner had vanished.

Ho-oh breathed slowly, catching her breath before looking up and addressing Rio.

"She will be fine. Transformation is not an easy or painless process but she is in no danger. I am not the only force at work here to accomplish this deed."

Rio blinked, a little surprised.

"You… had help?"

"There are many forces at work in the world. Your friend, Alex has seen and experienced many of them. But that does not matter. Your journey here has taught you much… I listened to your final words with your friend and partner."

Rio scratched the back of his head in a shy manner.

"I just didn't want her staying just because of me…" he said quietly.

Ho-oh straightened up, gazing down at the Riolu, looking him over. After a minute, she spoke,

"Hmmm…do you… regret your last words to her?" the bird said slowly. Rio, who had been looking down at the ground, brought his gaze up quickly and shook his head.

"No. No, I don't. I really didn't want her to make her choice centered around me." He said quickly, then slowly continued after a pause, "I… just… wish I had thought... to say a bit more…" he admitted, his eyes dropping again, shy under Ho-oh's gentle gaze.

Ho-oh took a moment to absorb his words, before speaking again.

"Elisa is not the only individual I have had dealings with. However, humans such as her are rare… hard to come by. I could see under her pain, that she had a decent heart… she has simply been hiding it. You are just as gifted, as you saw it as well. And you had the compassion needed in order to draw it out."

Rio was a little befuddled as to why Ho-oh was telling him this but he shrugged off his confusion and contemplated her meaning.

"Go now… Heatran awaits down below to return you to Veil Island." Ho-oh said gently and then spread her wings, flapping once, which generated a gust of wind that swept a cloud of dust and scattered bits of rock in all directions. Rio had to raise one arm to shield his eyes and he also squinted to avoid getting dust in his eyes as well. The bird took off into the air and soon flew away, vanishing into the setting sun beyond the ruins on the cliff's edge.

Rio was left alone now. He looked up, watching Ho-oh fly away… and his gaze dropped until he was looking at the ground again… where he noticed the colorful feather on the ground, next to the discarded treasure bag.

Rio walked up to the treasure bag and slung it over his shoulder, double-checking the contents to make sure everything was in-order inside the bag.

Last, he looked down at the feather on the ground. He crouched down and picked it up, looking at the feather, which felt warm in his paw, like it had just come off of Ho-oh seconds ago.

Then the feather abruptly blackened, withering into a small pile of ash.

This startled Rio, who had gotten used to the fact that the feather seemed fireproof. Yet it had apparently combusted and was suddenly rendered a bit of ash right there. His first impulse was to drop the ash and clean off his paw but instead, he spent a few moments staring at the remains of the feather.

This is what got Elisa and me here… even if it is just a bit of ash now, I'm not going to throw it away.

He reached into the treasure bag and opened up one of the many small pockets lining the inside of the bag. He then carefully tipped the ash off of his paw, into the pocket. He dusted what ash was clinging to his paw off into the pocket and then closed it up.

He gave the bag a satisfactory pat and then turned towards the mountain-side.

Time to go home.

o0o

Rio's journey down to Heatran was largely uneventful as the residents seemed to have calmed down and there weren't nearly as many fights to be dealt with. Rio could sense that the unsettling aura that had been over the mountain had vanished overnight. He had suspected Elisa might've had something to do with it but in any case, the aura was gone and the mountain residents were in a less aggressive mood.

Heatran was not surprised that Rio came back alone, as he seemed to be aware that Elisa had been sent back to her home. They did not exchange much in the way of words. Rio simply approached Heatran and told the volcanic pokemon he was ready to go.

A few minutes later, Rio was back at Corona Volcano.

o0o

Rio returned to Silver Village to both cheers of praise for the news he had to deliver concerning their visit to the Ho-oh, and some glum expressions when several the pokemon of the island realized Elisa was gone, permanently. Many of them had gotten to know Elisa fairly well and were going to miss her. Others understood how some had to move on and go to places where they might not return. These individuals were just as sad the Vulpix had left, but they took the news in stride.

"You doin' alright without her, Rio?" Quil had asked the Riolu after he had shared the news and everyone else present had gone back about their business.

Rio was absorbed in his own thoughts however and Quil had to repeat his name to get his attention.

"Oh! Sorry Quil… what was it you were asking?" Rio said quickly, shaking his head to get it back in gear.

Quil looked quite concerned at this spacey behavior.

"I'm hoping Elisa leaving isn't going to result in you struggling at the guild again…" the Quilava murmured.

"Oh, oh no, I'm getting along just fine." Rio said, laughing, "I'm just thinking about something. I… I want you join me up at the guild." Rio said, coming right out with the request.

Quil blinked, a little taken aback as Rio wasn't usually quite so forward.

"Rio… I'm not Elisa. I'm no explorer." Quil said, thinking the obvious.

"I know Quil, but I think you're better than you give yourself credit for. C'mon, you've already gone on several explorations with me already, even one with Elisa along. I know you can handle it, so please?" Rio said, looking at Quil with pleading eyes.

Quil frowned as he met those eyes… and though he wanted to, found he just couldn't say "no".

"Alright…" he sighed, "Sheesh, I swear Rio, you have your dad's enthusiasm for explorations."

"I know," Rio said, now grinning happily, "I've been trying from the start to get you to join me but I just didn't have the nerve to insist before. I know you're good."

Quil rolled his eyes.

"You just better not try to sleep in while I'm around or I'll give you a hot-foot, then we'll see who's better." Quil said, flaring just to make a point and laughing. Rio laughed in return and led Quil up to the guild.

o0o

On the way, they came across Team Gangster. Honchkrow was still a little crispy about the feathers from their encounter with Elisa. Gliscor had healed though.

"Well, well, what have we here?" The boss-bird said, his tones as rich and smug as ever, "The dog's son and a fat rodent, I fear." He chuckled at the rhyme he'd composed.

"Who are you callin' fat, buzzard?" Quil growled. Gliscor glared at him and Quil backed away; Rio stepped up though.

"Yeah, I'm still my dad's son, but I'm not the coward I once was." Rio said bluntly, glaring down Honchkrow.

"Oh? Found a spine while out exploring? Those are plentiful… especially with my team. But then, we've got so much more than just that."

"Just get out of my face, Honchkrow." Rio said, irate. Gliscor swooped forward to deal punishment to Rio for his blunt words, but the Riolu's reflexes and strength had been honed from his time fighting through the fields and preparing to meet Ho-oh. He blocked Gliscor's claw, much to the flying-scorpion's surprise and smacked him in the chest with Force Palm. This had only a little effect and Gliscor made to strike again faster, when what looked like a flaming pinwheel came whirling forward like a firework and slammed into him, forcing him back.

Quil rebounded off of Gliscor and landed, his head and hindquarters blazing with fire.

"Get outta town Honchkrow." Rio growled, "Before Quil reminds you of what Elisa did to you and I add a few broken bones to the injuries on top of that."

He raised a paw, flaring with aura to show it was no idle threat. Quil added to it by flaring again, as much as he could.

This was enough to unnerve the leader of Team Gangster, who backed up a step. He took a moment to try to come up with a biting comment but in the end, he simply sniffed, "Hmph", then turned and all three flew off. Rio then turned to Quil, a grin back on his face.

"Told you you're better than you think."

"I suppose I am." Quil admitted with a little chuckle, looking a little embarassed.

"C'mon, I want to get you set up at the guild."

o0o

Roserade was more than happy to take Quil in as a guild member. There was a somber undertone at Elisa's departure but Roserade did not allow it to ruin the good cheer of Rio's return and Quil's new membership.

All the members of the guild reacted similarly, welcoming the Quilava into the guild with open arms (though Quil instinctively shied away from Croc) and many were a little saddened that Elisa was gone. Another point of disappointment to many was that Team Long Ears had departed a day or two previous. Many of the guild members had liked talking to and learning from Alex and his partner. Nonetheless, they took all of this in stride and, when bedtime rolled around, Quil was in a superb mood from the fine welcome he'd received.

o0o

That night, Rio stayed up a little while longer. He had pretended to be going to sleep then, once Quil was fully asleep, he had sat up and went over to the window that the sliver of moon was providing light through.

In truth… when he had been lost in thought around Quil earlier, he'd actually been thinking about Elisa. He had been considering his offer to Quil before asking… and he was trying not to think of it as just replacing her as Quil had thought it was.

I… I didn't really get to say good-bye. I…

Rio, to some disappointment in himself for his words, had actually been hoping in some corner of his mind that Elisa might stay. He hadn't said good-bye… because he had been hoping he wouldn't need to.

I said all that to her… then I expected her to stay…

Rio wanted to slap himself.

He sighed instead and stared up at the moon outside. He felt a pain in his chest as he gazed out into the night, thinking about how he had felt about his original partner. He blinked and wiped his eyes, reining in his feelings and breathed in and out slowly to keep himself under control.

He gazed up at the sky one last time, almost as if he was hoping to see that comet shooting across the sky, towards home.

"Good-bye… Elisa…" He finally murmured quietly. He just hoped… somewhere out there… that she might hear… or sense his words. Those last words he had meant to say.

He then headed back to bed and lay down, tilting his head so he looked at Quil, snoring away.

He managed a smile, happy to have a partner at least, human or not.

I hope we both make the most of our lives, wherever she may be.

He would never forget Elisa… or what she had done for him.

With those thoughts of gratitude towards the human, he dozed off.